First Infestation Of Tree-Killing Emerald Ash Borer Found In Vermont

State officials say the arrival of the emerald ash borer has been expected for years.

Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources

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It’s been a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’: For years state officials have been expecting the destructive emerald ash borer to turn up in Vermont. Tuesday, the state announced it has found an infestation of the insect in part of the town of Orange.

Emerald ash borer has already infested forests in 31 other states, including those bordering Vermont and in the Province of Quebec. The result has been a widespread decline in ash species and the loss of hundreds of millions of trees in North America.

Ash accounts for 5 percent of Vermont’s forests and, in addition to its commercial value, it’s an important tree in urban areas. The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation says a widespread infestation of the emerald ash borer, “could have significant ecological and economic impacts” in Vermont.

"There's not a cause for a lot of optimism. We will have a lot of dead trees" — Barbara Schultz, forest health program manager

Barbara Schultz, forest health program manager with the department, says in coming days several state and federal agencies will conduct a delineation survey, visiting nearby areas to see if the infestation extends beyond the Orange area.

The emerald ash borer targets ash trees disrupting their ability to consume water and nutrients and damaging leaves.

Credit SBSArtDept / iStock

But Schultz says the insect is here to stay.

“What we won’t be able to do is eradicate this insect," Schultz says. "That hasn’t worked with emerald ash borer. We won’t be cutting all the trees down. That just has not been effective. It’s a case of slowing the spread. That’s our biggest priority.”

The insect was first discovered in 2002 in Michigan. State officials say it’s not clear how the emerald ash borer got to Orange, but it appears it has been there for a few years, before being spotted.

Left to its own devices the shiny green insect doesn’t cover much ground, and Schultz says it might spread one or two miles annually.

“What it does is it travels 65 mph down the interstate,” she says, referring to how the insect can be spread, for example, by transporting firewood from infested areas.

It’s currently illegal to transport firewood into Vermont from out of state, but Schultz says a federal quarantine that applies to infested areas will go into effect in Vermont once the state has learned the extent of the infestation and this will further restrict the movement of the wood.

In the past decade, the state has distributed thousands of bright purple traps designed to detect emerald ash borers, but it was a forest manager who spotted the tell-tale signs of the infestation in Orange and submitted an online report. Schultz says sharp-eyed Vermonters will be key to tracking the insect as it spreads through the state.

Traces of emerald ash borer on a dead tree trunk.

Credit corfoto / iStock

As for the near term, “There’s not a cause for a lot of optimism," says Schultz. "We will have a lot of dead trees.”

But she points out that work is being done with biocontrols like insects and parasites that attach the emerald ash borers, although it’s too early to say how effective these measures will be.

Schultz says about 1 percent of the Ash trees in infested areas survive.

“If we can retain enough Ash so that we have ash seedlings and saplings growing in our forests, ten years from now, 20 years from now, when these natural enemies may be established, that gives us a ray of hope.”

Related Content

Many of Vermont’s best-loved trees face serious threats from invasive pests that have destroyed millions of trees in some states. One of the most troubling is the emerald ash borer, a deadly forest predator which has no known, effective treatment. The insect hasn’t yet reached Vermont, but the state is getting ready for it.

Earlier this week officials in New Hampshire said they had found an infestation of emerald ash borer in the Concord area.

Now Vermont officials are reminding the public that the best way to prevent the spread of the insect is to burn local firewood.

The emerald ash borer is an invasive pest from China first detected in this country in 2002. Since then it has been discovered in 19 states, including New York and Massachusetts and the province of Quebec.

The emerald ash borer hasn't been spotted in Vermont yet, but it's getting closer. The little green beetle has destroyed ash tree populations in Ohio and Michigan, and has chewed its way across the Midwest to New England.

Some landowners worry they should cut their ash trees now, before the pest arrives. We'll talk to Michael Snyder, Commissioner of Vermont Forests Parks and Recreation, to find out what you, and the state, can do to prepare.